--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Archer had always been inclined to think…" description: "\"Archer had always been inclined to think that chance and circumstance played a small part in shaping people's lots compared with their innate tendency ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d48/edith-wharton-512_archer_archer-had-always-been-inclined-to-think_541789.png" --- # Archer had always been inclined to think that chance and… ![“Archer had always been inclined to think that chance and circumstance played a small part in shaping people's lots compared with their innate tendency to have things happen to them.” quote by Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d48/edith-wharton-512_archer_archer-had-always-been-inclined-to-think_541789.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d48/edith-wharton-512_archer_archer-had-always-been-inclined-to-think_541789.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d48/edith-wharton-512_archer_archer-had-always-been-inclined-to-think_541789.png) > “Archer had always been inclined to think that chance and circumstance played a small part in shaping people's lots compared with their innate tendency to have things happen to them.” [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People often attribute outcomes to chance, but innate traits play a larger role. **In simple terms:** Innate tendencies shape life more than luck. Key Takeaway Recognize personal agency over circumstance. Themes determinism character luck Mood thoughtful critical Type philosophical observational When to use this quote - career decisions - relationship choices - self‑assessment Key Concepts personal agency psychology of fate Questions to Reflect On - Do you think luck ever truly matters? - How can we balance nature and nurture? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on innate traits may ignore external factors. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Archer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/archer/) [Chance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chance/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Things happen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/things-happen/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [“Because sometimes chance and circumstance can seem like the most appalling injustice, but we just have to adapt. That’s all we can do.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gavin-extence/because-sometimes-chance-and-circumstance-can-seem-like-the-most/) [Gavin Extence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gavin-extence/) > [Archer was too intelligent to think that a young woman like Ellen Olenska would necessarily recoil from everything that reminded her of her past.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/archer-was-too-intelligent-to-think-that-a-young-woman-like-ellen/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“Archer had reverted to all his old inherited ideas about marriage. It was less trouble to conform with the tradition and treat May exactly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/archer-had-reverted-to-all-his-old-inherited-ideas-about-marriage-it/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“It was thus, Archer reflected, that New York managed its transitions; conspiring to ignore them till they were well over, and then, in all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/it-was-thus-archer-reflected-that-new-york-managed-its-transitions/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [She said she knew we were safe with you, and always would be, because once, when she asked you to, you'd given up the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/she-said-she-knew-we-were-safe-with-you-and-always-would-be-because/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [Archer reddened to the temples but dared not move or speak: it was as if her words had been some rare butterfly that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/archer-reddened-to-the-temples-but-dared-not-move-or-speak-it-was-as/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [But marriage is one long sacrifice… Chapter 21, Medora Manson speaking to Newland Archer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/but-marriage-is-one-long-sacrifice-chapter-21-medora-manson-speaking/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“Archer looked down with wonder at the familiar spectacle. It surprised him that life should be going on in the old way when his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/archer-looked-down-with-wonder-at-the-familiar-spectacle-it-surprised/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [I'm not too sure how it will go but I think whenever I do get the chance to bat I can just show what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jofra-archer/i-m-not-too-sure-how-it-will-go-but-i-think-whenever-i-do-get-the/) [Jofra Archer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jofra-archer/) > [Usually, I'm a very positive guy. I try to think about the next chance, the next game, the next opportunity to play well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-muller/usually-i-m-a-very-positive-guy-i-try-to-think-about-the-next-chance/) [Thomas Muller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-muller/) > [If you look at my past in the Premier League, without going into too many details, I don't think I had much of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-warnock/if-you-look-at-my-past-in-the-premier-league-without-going-into-too/) [Neil Warnock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-warnock/) > [I love to think about chance - about how one little overheard word, one pebble in a shoe, can change the universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-tyler/i-love-to-think-about-chance-about-how-one-little-overheard-word-one/) [Anne Tyler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-tyler/) > [Don't doubt your relationship; you will just set it up to fail. If you don't think it will work, it will never work. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-olsen/don-t-doubt-your-relationship-you-will-just-set-it-up-to-fail-if-you/) Colin Olsen > [My experience that undergirds that observation comes from punk, where people might have scraped together the money to be in the studio for an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grubbs/my-experience-that-undergirds-that-observation-comes-from-punk-where/) [David Grubbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grubbs/) > [As for performing live, I just never imagined how it would work out; for good reason, because it doesn't just work out - not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ariel-pink/as-for-performing-live-i-just-never-imagined-how-it-would-work-out/) [Ariel Pink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ariel-pink/) ## More by Edith Wharton > [“Suddenly the air was full of that deep clangor of bells which periodically covers Rome with a roof of silver.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/suddenly-the-air-was-full-of-that-deep-clangor-of-bells-which/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“Untrained human nature was not frank and innocent; it was full of the twists and defences of an instinctive guile. And he felt himself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/untrained-human-nature-was-not-frank-and-innocent-it-was-full-of-the/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“High Pasture Come up--come up: in the dim vale below The autumn mist muffles the fading trees, But on this keen hill-pasture, though the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/high-pasture-come-up-come-up-in-the-dim-vale-below-the-autumn-mist/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“Two ways to be a light for all, is to be a flaming candle or the mirror that reflects it”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/two-ways-to-be-a-light-for-all-is-to-be-a-flaming-candle-or-the/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“... no treasure-house of Atreus was ever as rich as a well-stored memory.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/no-treasure-house-of-atreus-was-ever-as-rich-as-a-well-stored-memory/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“...the endless labour of rolling human stupidity up the steep hill of understanding.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/the-endless-labour-of-rolling-human-stupidity-up-the-steep-hill-of/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“he saw his marriage becoming what most of the other marriages about him were: a dull association of material and social interests held together…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/he-saw-his-marriage-becoming-what-most-of-the-other-marriages-about/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [The real loneliness is living among all these kind people who only ask one to pretend!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/the-real-loneliness-is-living-among-all-these-kind-people-who-only/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [With a shiver of foreboding he saw his marriage becoming what most of the other marriages about him were: a dull association of material…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/with-a-shiver-of-foreboding-he-saw-his-marriage-becoming-what-most-of/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [Life is the saddest thing there is, next to death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/life-is-the-saddest-thing-there-is-next-to-death/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [A classic is classic not because it conforms to certain structural rules, or fits certain definitions (of which its author had quite probably never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/a-classic-is-classic-not-because-it-conforms-to-certain-structural/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [There is too much sour grapes for my taste in the present American attitude. The time to denounce the bankers was when we were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/there-is-too-much-sour-grapes-for-my-taste-in-the-present-american/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“But in a few years more perhaps there may be; for, deep within us as the ghost instinct lurks, I seem to see it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/but-in-a-few-years-more-perhaps-there-may-be-for-deep-within-us-as/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [Dialogue in fiction should be reserved for the culminating moments and regarded as the spray into which the great wave of narrative breaks in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/dialogue-in-fiction-should-be-reserved-for-the-culminating-moments/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“These Americans, under their forthcoming manner, their surface-gush, as some might call it, have an odd reticence about what goes on underneath.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/these-americans-under-their-forthcoming-manner-their-surface-gush-as/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) [Explore all 504 Edith Wharton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) ## More Archer quotes > [Of everything I have done, 'The Archers' always gets the most excitement; there's a sort of uncontrollable joy from fans of the program.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felicity-jones/of-everything-i-have-done-the-archers-always-gets-the-most-excitement/) [Felicity Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felicity-jones/) > [“The bastard. It's bad enough knowing he's stolen our money,but it's humiliating having to watch him spend it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-archer/the-bastard-it-s-bad-enough-knowing-he-s-stolen-our-money-but-it-s/) [Jeffrey Archer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-archer/) > [“With the suddneness of a cat leaping upon its prey, he leaned forward and caught up her wrist. "Tread lightly, Miranda Fair." His thumb…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristen-callihan/with-the-suddneness-of-a-cat-leaping-upon-its-prey-he-leaned-forward/) [Kristen Callihan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristen-callihan/) > [You can learn from an ordinary bamboo leaf what ought to happen. It bends lower and lower under the weight of snow. Suddenly the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugen-herrigel/you-can-learn-from-an-ordinary-bamboo-leaf-what-ought-to-happen-it/) [Eugen Herrigel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugen-herrigel/) > [But you must be patient and careful; nor should you expect to become an accomplished archer without long and severe training.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-thompson/but-you-must-be-patient-and-careful-nor-should-you-expect-to-become/) [Maurice Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-thompson/) > [“It was chosen by the archer and though it is a long way off, we cannot blame it when we fail to hit it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/it-was-chosen-by-the-archer-and-though-it-is-a-long-way-off-we-cannot/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“Don't think of what you have to do, don't consider how to carry it out!" he exclaimed. "The shot will only go smoothly when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugen-herrigel/don-t-think-of-what-you-have-to-do-don-t-consider-how-to-carry-it-out/) [Eugen Herrigel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugen-herrigel/) > [I must only warn you of one thing. You have become a different person in the course of these years. For this is what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugen-herrigel/i-must-only-warn-you-of-one-thing-you-have-become-a-different-person/) [Eugen Herrigel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugen-herrigel/) > [Archer was too intelligent to think that a young woman like Ellen Olenska would necessarily recoil from everything that reminded her of her past.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/archer-was-too-intelligent-to-think-that-a-young-woman-like-ellen/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“Archer looked down with wonder at the familiar spectacle. It surprised him that life should be going on in the old way when his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/archer-looked-down-with-wonder-at-the-familiar-spectacle-it-surprised/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [Insatiate archer! could not one suffice? Thy shaft flew thrice, and thrice my peace was slain; And thrice, ere thrice yon moon had filled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-young/insatiate-archer-could-not-one-suffice-thy-shaft-flew-thrice-and/) [Edward Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-young/) > [Famous archer, Howard Hill won all of the 267 archery contests he entered. He could hit a bullseye at 50 feet, then split first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zig-ziglar/famous-archer-howard-hill-won-all-of-the-267-archery-contests-he/) [Zig Ziglar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zig-ziglar/) > [The Poet is a kinsman in the clouds Who scoffs at archers, loves a stormy day; But on the ground, among the hooting crowds,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/the-poet-is-a-kinsman-in-the-clouds-who-scoffs-at-archers-loves-a/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [“It suddenly occurred to me that Archer Hale had taught himself an entire language, but hadn't had a single person to talk to. Until…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mia-sheridan/it-suddenly-occurred-to-me-that-archer-hale-had-taught-himself-an/) [Mia Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mia-sheridan/) > [“So hologram means--" I finally said. "It means non-corporeal, yeah. Which sucks seeing as how there are a lot of very corporeal things I'd…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-hawkins/so-hologram-means-i-finally-said-it-means-non-corporeal-yeah-which/) [Rachel Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-hawkins/) [Browse all 201 Archer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/archer/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Archer had always been inclined to think that chance and circumstance played a small part in shaping people's lots compared with their innate tendency to have things happen to them.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Edith Wharton" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/archer-had-always-been-inclined-to-think-that-chance-and-circumstance/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Archer" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/archer-had-always-been-inclined-to-think-that-chance-and-circumstance/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d48/edith-wharton-512_archer_archer-had-always-been-inclined-to-think_541789.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d48/edith-wharton-512_archer_archer-had-always-been-inclined-to-think_541789.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d48/edith-wharton-512_archer_archer-had-always-been-inclined-to-think_541789.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Archer had always been inclined to think that chance and circumstance played a small part in shaping…” — Edith Wharton", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Edith Wharton", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Archer had always been inclined to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/archer-had-always-been-inclined-to-think-that-chance-and-circumstance/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/archer-had-always-been-inclined-to-think-that-chance-and-circumstance/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```